The European Parliament adopted by a resolution on Mauritania, in particular the case of Biram Dah Abeid.
The resolution was tabled by the Greens/EFA, EPP, ECR, EFDD, ALDE, and S&D groups.
Parliament called for the immediate release of anti-slavery activist and founder of the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement, Biram Dah Abeid, who was arrested on 11 November 2014, and was reportedly facing the death penalty. It noted that other anti-slavery campaigners have also been arrested and detained, bringing the total number of imprisoned activists from the Mauritanian Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement to 17. Parliament expressed concern about reports of violence used against some of the activists, and urged the Mauritanian authorities to prosecute those officials who had been involved in the abuse and torture of prisoners. It stated that anti-slavery activists must be permitted to pursue their non-violent work without fear of harassment or intimidation.
Members noted that, although officially abolished in 1981 and criminalised in 2007, the practice of slavery persisted in Mauritania. According to the Global Slavery Index 2014, Mauritania was the biggest offender, with the highest proportion of its population (up to 4 %) enslaved. Furthermore, slavery in Mauritania was explicitly racialised, with slaves almost universally drawn from the (black) Haratin community, which comprised between 40 % and 60 % of the Mauritanian population. Whilst welcoming the Mauritanian Government’s criminalisation of slavery, the existence of a special court for slavery and the government’s announcement in March 2014 of the introduction of a roadmap for the abolition of slavery, Parliament noted with regret that there had only been one prosecution for slavery. It encouraged the Mauritanian authorities to help change social attitudes towards race and slavery, particularly as regards the Haratin population and end all forms of slavery, to enact anti-slavery laws and to pass legislation aimed at amending or repealing discriminatory legislation.
It urged the Vice-President/High Representative, the European External Action Service and the Member States to step up their efforts to address slavery in Mauritania, specifically by ensuring a clear and workable foreign affairs and human rights policy which was in line with the EU strategic framework on human rights and democracy, and by promoting a human rights dimension as part of the EU’s Sahel strategy and in dialogues with the Mauritanian Government, stressing that Mauritania was a significant partner in the EU strategy for security and development in the Sahel.
Lastly, Parliament urged the development of universal formal education, so that current and former slaves, as well as their children, could improve their literacy and become equipped with the tools to find meaningful employment. All Mauritanian citizens should be entitled to own land, particularly when they have occupied and cultivated it for generations, a right which Biram Dah Abeid and the Mauritanian Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement are proposing as the key means to end the cycle of slavery.